Override Vote on New NYPD Oversight Expected

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City council members say they will make history with a vote to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s vetoes on police oversight bills.

At a rally on Thursday before the vote, activists cheered and held signs that read “override.”

The council voted to create an inspector general for the police department and make it easier for people to sue for discrimination. Bloomberg vetoed it but council members say they have enough votes to override the veto.

NAACP chairman Benjamin Jealous says the NYPD is seen by many departments across the country as an example and the vote will have major ramifications.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

After a federal judge rapped one of the New York Police Department’s core tactics as racially discriminatory and appointed a monitor to oversee changes, lawmakers say they are set to add another dose of oversight for the nation’s biggest police force.

In a showdown with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and police leaders, the City Council was due to vote Thursday on overriding Bloomberg’s vetoes to establish an inspector general for the NYPD and make it easier to take discriminatory-policing claims to court.

The measures mark the most aggressive legislative effort in years to put new checks on the NYPD. And the vote comes less than two weeks after U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin’s order for a monitor to focus on stop and frisk, a practice she said the department had used in a way that violated the rights of hundreds of thousands of black and Hispanic men. The city is appealing.

Thursday’s vote could be very close; the lawsuit-related component of the legislation passed in June with just the 34 votes needed to override a veto.